Chapter 85: Guests

Chapter 85: Guests

As a polite gentleman, Klein naturally would not stare at Alan’s wife. He looked at the renowned surgeon instead and said, “Good evening, Alan. How should I address this lady?”

Alan’s cool temperament had not changed much, but that did not keep him from politely smiling as he handed over a beautifully wrapped bottle of red wine.

“My wife, Wilma Gladys. She is a secondary school teacher.”

“You look like you are going to be a father again. When is the due date?” Klein accepted the gift and asked smoothly.

The topic he had originally prepared for Dr. Alan had been several new surgical techniques recently reported in the newspapers. He had not expected the other man to bring his wife, already many months pregnant, to the ball.

To Klein, this was simply an unexpected delight, because the unborn fetus in Madam Wilma Gladys’s belly was the Snake of Mercury, Will Auceptin.

Alan subconsciously glanced at his wife’s belly and smiled faintly.

“Early July. If you do not mind, I hope to invite you to his birth celebration then.”

No sooner had he spoken than the gentle, beautiful black-haired lady, Wilma, suddenly pressed a hand to her belly and cried out softly in pain.

“What is wrong?” Alan blurted out.

“He kicked me. He has quieted down now,” Wilma said as her expression eased.

She then looked toward Dawn Dantes and drew a smile.

“Because of the pregnancy, I have not attended a ball like this in too long. Staying at home all the time has made me feel rather gloomy, which is why I asked Alan to bring me along. Although I cannot dance, I can chat with the young ladies and madams, and perhaps find time for a few hands of cards.”

“Your presence is my honor,” Klein replied with complete sincerity. “In early July, I will attend his birth celebration.”

He was not distracted by the small accident just now and still remembered Dr. Alan’s invitation.

After a few more polite exchanges, Klein handed the gift in his hand to his personal valet Richardson, then had him lead the two—no, three—guests into the hall.

Before long, the second pair of guests arrived: Bishop Elektra, still dressed in his black clerical robes, and his female companion.

She was a young woman with a little baby fat still left on her face, perhaps only just over twenty. She seemed to find everything novel and was filled with energy, yet because she had already given birth, she also possessed a hint of maturity.

“Good evening, Bishop. I have been sleeping wonderfully lately,” Klein said, pretending not to know of the Evernight Church’s quiet efforts.

Bishop Elektra immediately drew four points clockwise over his chest.

“This is the Goddess’s blessing.”

He then introduced the female companion beside him.

“My wife, Shona Johnson.”

Because he often met Dawn Dantes, and because he had visited the other man’s residence many times, attending this ball required no additional gift from him. That would have made things appear too polite and distant.

“Hello. You are much younger than I imagined,” Klein said to Shona with a half-complimenting, half-joking nod.

At the same time, he silently calculated inwardly:

I heard the bishop married two years ago. In other words, his wife was only eighteen or nineteen at the time… That age gap is a little large… In a few more years, perhaps I should introduce that plump Apothecary to him…

Hearing Dawn Dantes’s joke and remembering the conversation when the other man had been ill, Bishop Elektra suddenly became a little uncomfortable. He coughed softly and answered in his wife’s place.

“She is someone who enjoys lively occasions. If she has time, she does not wish to miss any ball.”

Klein said no more, because he saw Madam Mary alight from a carriage and walk toward the entrance hall.

After allowing Bishop Elektra and his wife into the hall, Klein smiled at Mary.

“Madam, perhaps we will be working together next week.”

The solicitors and accounting team he had hired had already completed their…